2014 Weekly TV Recap (June 29 - July 5)

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Tuesday July 1

Tyrant (FX), Episode 2 "State of Emergency"

GRADE: C-

Brief Description: There is absolutely nothing compelling about "Tyrant"- which just goes to show you what poor writing this show has considering a dude got his dick bit off and a terrorist attack happened during this young season. Tyrant should be awesome and a man's man show; I mean what guy doesn't love "The Godfather"? Yet, I went through all of "State of Emergency" searching the internet on my phone and not paying attention to the episode. I've seen a lot of posts on the internet (from some very credible critics) hating on lead Adam Raynor's acting, and I don't think he's terrible in the least, but he's certainly not doing anything to draw me in either, and he's certainly no Al Pacino as Michael Corleone. I think the real problem with the show is that there isn't a single well-developed character, and everybody is just a two-dimensional stereotype. That means you don't care about any plot points, and you certainly don't care about any political message the show tries to deliver. Tyrant is produced by Howard Gordon who also produces Homeland, and Tyrant feels like another poor, terrible extension of what Homeland is now.

2014 TV Weekly Recap (June 22 - June 28)

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Sunday June 22

Halt and Catch Fire (AMC), Episode 4 "Close To The Metal"

GRADE: B-

Brief Description: Halt and Catch Fire tries to take a slight step back from the building of the portable computer and focus on its main three characters, Joe, Gordon, and Cameron, while adding heavy focus and depth to Donna who seemed to be there solely as a cliche nagging wife. H&CF does its best to try and give these characters the most compelling story line possible, but it's just not clicking. The stakes aren't there and the characters aren't that well defined or developed. It does its best by making Joe out to be a villain and he gets beat up by some cops this episode, but I just don't care. This show hasn't done anything to make me truly care about these characters, and it's just not doing anything to suck me in to make me want to continue watching. 

Tuesday June 24

Tyrant (FX), Episode 1 "Pilot"

GRADE: B

Brief Description: Truthfully, I have no idea how I feel about Tyrant. I didn't hate it and it passed the iPhone Test where I was more focused on the show than my iPhone, but it also didn't do anything to make me want to stay either. I will continue watching it, but I may give up with it soon along with Halt and Catch Fire. The pilot to Tyrant plays out exactly like the plot of The Godfather. Adam Raynor plays Bassam "Barry" Al-Fayeed and he is the Michael Corrleone character. His father is the Don Vito Corrleone character and the dictator of a fictional Iran/Iraq-esque country. Barry is self-exiled and living in L.A. because he doesn't want to be in the violent business that his father is in. However, and just like in The Godfather, a wedding brings Barry back to his home land, and wouldn't you know it, he gets sucked in and stays a while longer. Barry has an older brother, Jamal, who is a hybrid of Sonny and Fredo. Jamal is the "bad son" who stays and loves to rape and take advantage of his power. A character like Jamal should be a character we all love to hate, but he's so one-dimensional that I never had any feelings for him whatsoever. How I felt about Jamal is how I felt about the pilot to Tyrant as a whole. It's cliche, one-dimensional, under-written, and not that well-acted, but there's also a clear capability to become better and more engaging. Despite all my negativity towards it, I'll continue watching a few more episodes, and I will give this FX show a chance.